A Sermon for St Francis' Day, October 4th.

October 5th ST FRANCIS HARRISMITH 2008

Yesterday was St Francis’ Day. As a member of the Society of St Francis, I’m supposed to preach at least one sermon per year on St Francis or the Franciscans. I don’t always do so, but when his day comes so close to a Sunday like this, I try to keep to the rule.

St Francis of Assisi is one of the most popular of the great saints. People who don’t know much about any other saint will have heard about St Francis and his friendship with all of God’s creation. Or from reading some of the many books written about him, or seeing one of the many films made of his life.

He was the son of a wealthy fabric merchant and never had to do a day’s work in his life. With his similarly rich friends, living off their fathers’ hard work, he had a great life, painting the town red on a regular basis. It was a completely selfish life, looking only for self-satisfaction.

He joined the army when war broke out and got a fever which nearly killed him. It was while he was so sick that he began to think about how pointless his life was. He started praying. Kneeling in front of a simple crucifix, Francis had a vision. The figure of Jesus on the cross came to life and called on Francis to “Rebuild my Church”.

At first, Francis thought that Jesus meant a little chapel building which was falling down in the valley and, when he was well, he began to rebuild it with his own hands. To finance this work, he sold a deal of his father’s cloth. His father caught him, charged him, got his money back and disowned his son.

But soon Francis realised that God was rather calling him to devote all his boundless youthful energy and talents, previously wasted on selfish things, to rebuild the Church to what it was before it had become very worldly and rich.

The Holy Spirit truly converted him; he revolted against the traps of riches and possessions and devoted himself to a simple life of poverty. He called poverty “Lady Poverty” and dedicated himself to serving the poor – both those who had nothing of the world’s good things and those who didn’t know how much they needed God.

And his lifestyle transformed the church.

He wrote plays and acted them out. He composed poetry and music. The well-known song “Make me an Instrument of thy peace”, Bernard’s favourite, is credited to Francis. He also wrote a Canticle of the Sun which has come down to us as the hymn All Creatures of our God and King, which we shall sing shortly. He’s credited with inventing the Christmass Carol service which we now take for granted – but it was the first time that popular Christmass songs were sung in church instead of Latin chant. His Nativity Play included real animals instead of children dressed up.

His living faith in Jesus witnessed to the challenge of the Gospel. He wasn’t one of the wicked tenants in the vineyard in today’s Gospel who gave God nothing of the fruit he expected.

Within 3 years he attracted 5,000 followers of his new way of poverty, chastity and obedience. 5,000 people who lived in Gospel faith and simplicity.

In the process he aroused the whole of society and made lots of enemies, especially among those who were making themselves rich within the church. But uncountable thousands besides those who joined him, discovered the joy of putting Christ’s principles into practice in their own lives. He was truly rebuilding the Church as Jesus had challenged him.

The Church, as well as society always needs such a challenge. People today are longing for a living faith, longing to be delivered from a sick and violent society; longing for an escape from corruption, self-indulgence, hypocrisy and double standards. In a way, we all long to be Franciscans. We long for our own renewal, the renewal of Church and society.

Not all of us are called to be set apart as monks and nuns like Francis. But we can try to adapt his ideals – which are the ideals of the Gospel and our Lord Jesus Christ – to our own situations. I try to do this by having a proper respect for the sanctity of all life, refusing to take part in war and violence. By working for the good of other people through the church, charitable organisations, SPCA and so on. By supporting them with my money as well as with my time. By being hospitable to people who call on me. By sharing the blessings which God has given me. By tithing my income to God’s work.

For me, this is a beginning of an attempt to follow the Gospel as inspired by St Francis. I’ve sometimes wondered, first as teenager, if I shouldn’t have left the security and comfort of the life I have to join the Franciscan monastery.

Our whole church and society needs the Franciscan challenge and new life in the Spirit. We can all try rather harder in the power of the Holy Spirit to transform the Church. Jesus says to us, just as much as he did to St Francis: “Rebuild my Church”. Amen.

This is only a joke - change denominations to suit your preference

Choose your Denomination

An Anglican priest and a Methodist minister were flying back from an ecumenical conference.
“Would you like a drink, sir?” the flight-attendant asked the Anglican. “Yes, thanks. I’ll have a scotch on the rocks.”

“Would you like a drink sir?” she asked the Methodist.
“Madam, I’d rather commit adultery than drink your liquor!”

“Wait a minute,” says the Anglican. “I didn’t know that was the choice!”

Where do pets come from?

Where Do Pets Come From?

This Chapter of Genesis was found in the Dead Sea Scrolls. It could shed light on the question, "Where do pets come from?"

Adam said, “I am lonely and it is hard for me to remember how much you love me."

And God said, "No problem! I will create a companion for you that will be with you forever and who will be a reflection of my love for you. Regardless of how selfish and childish and unlovable you may be, this new companion will accept you as you are and will love you as I do."

And God created a new animal to be a companion for Adam. And it was a good animal. And God was pleased. And the new animal was pleased to be with Adam and he wagged his tail. And Adam said, "Lord, I have named all the animals and I cannot think of a name for this new animal."

And God said, "No problem! Because I have created this new animal to be a reflection of my love for you, his name will be a reflection of my own name, and you will call him DOG." And Dog lived with Adam and was a companion to him and loved him. And God was pleased. And Dog was content and wagged his tail.

After a while, it came to pass that Adam's guardian angel came to the Lord and said, "Lord, Adam has become filled with pride. He struts like a peacock and believes he is worthy of adoration. Dog has indeed taught him that he is loved, but no one has taught him humility."

And the Lord said, "No problem! I will create for him a companion who will see him as he is. The companion will remind him of his limitations, so he will know that he is not always worthy of adoration."

And God created CAT to be a companion to Adam. And Cat would not obey Adam. And when Adam gazed into Cat's eyes, he was reminded that he was not the supreme being. And Adam learned humility. And God was pleased. And Adam was greatly improved. And Cat did not care one way or the other.

This was sent to me by an anonymous donor.

Sermon

Actions Speak Louder than Words

In today’s gospel Jesus deals with two brothers talking to their father about working in the vineyard.

One said he would go and work, but he didn’t.

The other said he wouldn’t go to work, but he actually did go and work.

Jesus’ point is that the one who actually worked is the one who was more honest. Because actions speak louder than words.

English Can Be Difficult

Two elderly American Jewish men, Sid and Al, are sitting in an Oslo restaurant one day. Sid asks Al, 'Do you know of any people of our faith born and raised in Norway?'

‘I don't know,’ says Al. ‘Let's ask our waiter.’

When the waiter arrives, Al asks, 'Say Ole, are there any Norwegian Jews in Oslo?'

'I don't know sir,’ says Ole. ‘I ask the cooks.'

He returns from the kitchen after a few minutes and says, 'No sir, the cooks say there is no Norwegian Jews.'

Al isn't satisfied and asks, 'Are you absolutely sure?'

Ole's waiter, realizing he is dealing with foreigners replies, 'I check once again, sir!' and goes back into the kitchen.

While the waiter is away, Sid says, 'I find it hard to believe that there are no Jews in Norway. Our people are scattered everywhere.'

Ole returns and says, 'Sir, the head cook Thor say there is no Norwegian Jews.'

'Are you certain?' Al asks again. 'I just can't believe there are no Norwegian Jews!'

'Sir, I ask everyone,' replies the exasperated Ole, 'All we have is Orange Jews, Grape Jews, Prune Jews, Grapefruit Jews and Tomato Jews.

From the Pew Leaflet

Explosive Advice

A tough old cowboy counselled his grandson that if he wanted to live a long life, the secret was to sprinkle a pinch of gun-powder on his oatmeal every morning.

The grandson did this religiously to the age of 103, when he died.

He left behind 14 children, 30 grandchildren, 45 great grandchildren and a deep hole in the ground where the crematorium used to be.

Health Tips

Q: If I stop smoking, will I live longer?
A: Nope. Smoking is a sign of individual expression and peace of mind. If you stop, you'll probably stress yourself to death in record time.
Q: Aren't fried foods bad for you?
A: Foods are fried these days in vegetable oil. In fact, they're permeated in it. How could getting more vegetables be bad for you.
Q: What's the secret to healthy eating?
A: Thicker gravy.
Q: Will sit-ups help prevent me from getting a little soft around themiddle?
A: Definitely not! When you exercise a muscle, it gets bigger. You should only be doing sit-ups if you want a bigger stomach.
I hope this has cleared up any misconceptions you may have had about trying to live a longer and healthier life.

Desperate for Forgiveness

Ernest Hemingway told this story.

He said that in Spain the name Paco is a very common name.

One day a father went to Madrid and put an ad in the local paper that said: “Paco, meet me at the Hotel Montana at noon Wednesday. All is forgiven. Signed, Papa.”

On Wednesday of that week, the hotel had to call for the police to break up the crowd that had gathered, because about 800 young men named Paco had shown up at the hotel, each one desperately hoping that he was the one who was being forgiven.

May the Spirit of God so rule in our hearts that we may find peace and life in reconciliation with our neighbours and with God.